Review Detail

Finally. Finally Jennifer Estep has given me a book that I’ve been craving. What I didn’t like the most about her previous two Mythos Academy books was that they seemed like petty mysteries. (Oh, and I’m totally going to spoil the books right here, so if you haven’t read them yet, I’d suggest looking away.) In the first one, a girl faked her own murder so that her best friend and her boyfriend, who were hooking up behind her back, would feel bad. That’s a silly motive for a fake murder. And then in the second book, the brother of the girl who faked her murder wanted to kill Gwen because he thought she killed his sister. Slightly better, but still silly. But FINALLY, we get a good mystery here: Gwen is trying to find the girl who murdered her mom.

Once again, I was a bit bothered by the repeating information from the previous novels, but that could also (once again) be because I read this back-to-back from the prequel. And once again, I was really bothered by how predictable the book was, since I was certain that so-and-so was Loki’s champion long before her identity was revealed. AND I knew where her mom was hiding the Helheim dagger. (Seriously, nothing fools me these days.)

I still liked Gwen’s snarky attitude though and the new twist on her touch magic. The characters in this novel were really fun, though a little clichéd, of course. But my favorite characters are always non-human: Vic (a sword) and Nott (a Fenrir wolf). Because Vic is just HILARIOUS and Nott is just ADORABLE (though she can be frightening).

Jennifer Estep did make an attempt to make Gwen less stupid, so I’m happy about that. ‘Cause Gwen actually sort-of guessed right at Loki’s champion’s identity, though I honestly still think she should have gotten the clue way before.

I was irritated with the romance in this book. Sure, Logan and Gwen both have admitted that they liked each other, but are they doing anything about it? No. Really, could they give it a try? But the ending satisfied me enough, along with that excerpt from Crimson Frost.

Dark Frost is a promising novel; the ending tells of more to come, both plot-wise and romance-wise. Even though I was unsatisfied with its predictability, I know that I will eagerly await Crimson Frost.

Source: Galley received from publisher for review

Previously published on my blog: http://fictionfervor.wordpress.com/2012/08/07/review-dark-frost-by-jennifer-estep/